Human U90926 orthologous long non-coding RNA as a novel biomarker for visual prognosis in herpes simplex virus type-1 induced acute retinal necrosis

Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is a form of infectious uveitis caused by alpha herpesviruses, including herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). We previously found that the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) U90926 is upregulated in murine retinal photoreceptor cells following HSV-1 infection, leading to host cell death. However, to date, an orthologous transcript has not been identified in humans. We investigated U90926 orthologous transcript in humans and examined its utility as a prognostic marker for visual acuity in patients with ARN. We identified two human orthologous transcripts (1955 and 592 bases) of lncRNA U90926. The amount of the longer human U90926 transcript was approximately 30- and 40-fold higher in the vitreous fluid of patients with ARN than in those with sarcoidosis and intraocular lymphoma, respectively. Furthermore, the expression of the longer human U90926 transcript in the vitreous fluid was highly correlated with the final best-corrected logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity in patients with ARN (r = 0.7671, p = 0.0079). This suggests higher expression of the longer human U90926 transcript in the vitreous fluid results in worse visual prognosis; therefore, expression of the longer human U90926 transcript is a potential negative prognostic marker for visual acuity in patients with ARN.